Secrets
by X4Harry
Summary: 6th Year fic. After escaping the Dursleys, Harry finds the past more entwined in the walls of Hogwarts castle than he ever imagined. An interesting year awaits Harry and lets just say his hormones are really kicking in! Please R
1. Mysteries of the past

Chapter 1: Mysteries of the Past  
  
Harry sat at the Gryffindor breakfast table reading his pornographic fan mail as owls fluttered around his head. It was a week before the start of term, as Harry pondered the events of the summer...  
  
The Dursleys had been as foul as ever, ignoring Harry at all costs; Harry smiled at the memory of Dudley bringing home a girl and the look on aunt Petunia's face. Lorna was a tall, anorexic blond with a pale, sad appearance. Harry almost felt sorry for her when Dudley, in all his boxing champion glory, dragged her through the door. Harry himself found her pretty unattractive. She had a skinny face with very prominent cheek bones and a long scrawny neck – not unlike aunt Petunia in fact – and she looked miserable (plus the fact that she was the most flat-chested girl he had ever seen). However, his opinion soon changed to a feeling of loathing when she pushed him out of her way with considerable force. On the other hand, she and Dudley had done him a good turn by getting him sent back to Hogwarts early.  
  
It was about a week ago, when Dudley and Lorna were having a rather intimate moment in Dudley's bedroom. The loud grunts from upstairs had caused aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon to nearly hit the ceiling in rage – uncle Vernon's face turning more and more blackberry-coloured by the second. They had been furious, of course, with Harry. "Dinky Duddydums wouldn't make those disguising noises" aunt Petunia had crooned, and Harry had given up protesting. After an immense row and the involvement of Albus Dumbledore, Harry had ended up back at Hogwarts, with only his porn to keep him company.  
  
On the other hand, that wasn't really a problem, he thought to himself, looking at a particularly good photo. Melons he thought, astounded by what he was seeing. He was looking forward to the weekend when Ron and Hermione would arrive so that Hermione could do all of his home work for him and Ron could enjoy is fan mail with him! Just then, a voice interrupted his musings and he was surprised to see the long crooked nose of professor Dumbledore. Panicking, Harry rushed to cover the photos spread out over the table, knocking over the milk jug in his haste; some of them were rather indecent...  
  
"It's quite alright Harry, I won't look. We all have our own personal interests." Dumbledore said with a glint in his deep blue eyes. Speechless, Harry gaped at the headmaster.  
  
"What I really came to talk to you about was your well being in the castle. I know your friends will be arriving soon, but I still wish you to take care – don't stray out of the boundaries of the school without permission and leave the forest well alone – I believe Grawp and his... err... lady friend maybe rather busy, as I discovered to my cost the other night. Now onto the subject of your lessons-"  
  
"What?! I have to do lessons? But professor it's the holidays!" Harry interrupted, outraged.  
  
"Yes Harry, you need to know how to defend yourself, something I don't think professor Umbridge taught you very much about last year. I will be tutoring you myself in defensive magic and...err... other matters connected with wand work."  
  
"Err... right, thank you professor, but seeing as it's not the beginning of term yet, please could I be excused form homework. I have some other, more pressing matters to attend to."  
  
"Oh very well then. Your first lesson will be tomorrow morning at 10.00. Oh, and Harry?"  
  
"Yes professor?"  
  
"Do put those away before professor McGonagall arrives," he said, glancing at the letter and photos Harry was still half clutching, "otherwise I don't think she'll agree to you sitting at the staff table with us. I will see you tomorrow afternoon up in my office, don't be late. The password is toffee melons." And with that he disappeared out of the entrance hall in the swish of a cloak, his long legs carrying him to attend to other matters, specifically to speak to Hagrid about concealing his latest and largest venture.  
  
Harry sat back in his chair, surprised how understanding the headmaster was. Carefully, he piled up his photos, letters and everything else his fans had sent him to take them up to his dormitory. On his way along a third floor corridor he was caught unawares by peeves.  
  
"Ooh look, it's Potty-wee-Potter! What's Potty doing with all that porn? Potty will get a detention for sure if he leaves that lying around!" said the poltergeist and with a wicked grin he grabbed Harry's mail and scattered it everywhere! Laughing gleefully, Peeves skipped off and vanished through a wall.  
  
Infuriated, Harry grabbed at the papers, but before he knew it they had scattered. Thoughtfully Harry contemplated using magic. It was still the holidays, but he was in school. He would be using it tomorrow anyway. Oh well, here goes, he thought, "Accio fan mail." The paper flew into his hands. "Accio, accio, accio!" Eventually there was no more to summon – Harry seemed to be summoning random suits of armour and such like now – so he stopped. Plotting his revenge on Peeves, he stormed on up the stairs.  
  
Up in his dorm, which looked very empty without his friends, he stuffed his mail under his pillow, preparing for a good night. Glancing around the room, he caught sight of his firebolt and decided to do some quiddich practise. The ghosts of Hogwarts seemed very interested in Harry's return to school, as Harry saw a least five of them on his way to the quiddich pitch. He gave the snitch a 10 second head start and then soared into the air. Circling the pitch, eyes searching for a small glint of gold, Harry began to think of the possibilities of being alone in school. There was so much he could set up – Fred and George might be gone but he was going to do his father and Sirius proud. The others weren't going to know what had hit them! Slightly bored by the lack of players, Harry decided to practise some dives. After performing the Wronski feint about four times he caught sight of that familiar glint of gold. As his finger wrapped around its struggling wings he soared down, with a sense of triumph, even though no one was watching.  
  
He made his way down to the great hall in time for dinner, where he found professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick and Dumbledore seated at the staff table.  
  
"Do sit down Harry" said professor Dumbledore, indicating a seat to his right.  
  
"Thanks professor" Harry replied gratefully, moving into the seat on the left of the headmaster.  
  
Harry was making his way upstairs after a delicious supper, when he noticed a letter lying on the stone floor. Thinking it was probably a piece of run away fan mail, he grabbed it immediately, but on closer inspection, the letter appeared to be something completely different. Unfolding the parchment, he began to read:  
  
"Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the Marauder's secret stash of mischief-making tricks. To find –"  
  
To his disappointment Harry realised that the parchment was torn and no more was legible. Intrigued, Harry poked around the nearby antiques in the corridor. However, when the suit of armour, the old writing desk and several portraits proved very unhelpful he decided to give up for now. He had to find that rest of the note. Would it tell him where to find the stash? But surely James and Sirius wouldn't have made it that easy for people to find. He had a feeling he might need Hermione's logic no this one. Desperate once again to see her (and not just for the sake of picking up pretty girls...) and Ron he decided to put it to the back of his mind for now. Folding up the note, he tucked it into his pocket. 


	2. Back to Work

A/N: Please, please, please review, any criticisms are welcome.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot. All of the Harry Potter characters and anything that you recognise from the books belongs to JK Rowling.  
  
Chapter 2: Back to work  
  
Harry awoke early the next morning, dressed quickly and hurried down to breakfast. He couldn't wait for the arrival of Ron and Hermione later that day. He was pleased that Dumbledore had let him come back to school instead of Grimmauld Place; he knew there were too many old memories there. Sometime he would have to face them, but not just yet.  
  
He sat at the staff table again, this time next to professor McGonagall, and just as he poured some milk on his cornflakes he wasn't surprised to see several owls homing in on him. He recognised some of them as some of his regular fans – he knew he shouldn't have let anything slip in diagon alley about his taste in girls as he had been plagued with mail ever since and it wasn't the kind of mail he would want to open sitting next to his head of house. One owl, however, was different; it was a large brown tawny owl and as Harry reached out for the letter, he saw that it had an official looking seal on it. Taking a closer look, he saw it read "National Board of Examinations" around a hat and a wand in the centre. With a sudden dread in the pit of his stomach, Harry realised that his exam results must be here at last. What a time to choose indeed. Harry debated with himself: Professor McGonagall probably already knew his results he reasoned, or at least she would find out soon enough, but all the same, if they were really bad, he wouldn't want her to see his reaction.  
  
He suddenly became aware of how sweaty his hands were. To think he had been thinking about this moment all holidays, and the increased suspense after the mix up with his results hadn't helped. Having received an apology for this along with Hermione's owl asking him how he did and just mentioning that she happened to receive O's in every subject and a special commendation, Harry wasn't feeling particularly confident.  
  
Eventually, Harry decided to open it as discreetly as he could, while professor McGonagall and the other teachers were talking amongst themselves. Fingers shaking slightly, he unfolded the letter. It read:  
  
Dear Mr Potter,  
  
Many apologies for the slight delay in your results. You obtained the following grades:  
  
Astronomy A  
  
Charms O  
  
Defence Against the Dark Arts O*  
  
Divination P  
  
Care of Magical Creatures O  
  
Herbology O  
  
History of Magic A  
  
Potions O  
  
Transfiguration EE  
  
*We are also pleased to inform you that you received a special commendation in Defence against the Dark Arts  
  
Yours sincerely,  
  
Madame Marchbanks Head of the National Board of Examinations  
  
Harry stared at the results again. Wow, he thought to himself, I actually passed potions. I got an O!!!!!! And transfiguration EE – I can still try to be an auror! Harry sat, amazed. Just then, a voice interrupted his thoughts:  
  
"What's that Potter? Got your OWL results have you?" asked professor McGonagall  
  
"Err, Yeah" Harry replied, still staring at the parchment.  
  
"Well done," she said, glancing over his shoulder, "I see you got an Outstanding in potions, excellent, Potter, and an Exceeds Expectations in transfiguration. I will need you to come and see me later to tell me which subjects you will be taking for NEWT. Then I will be able to give you your book list for this year. Professor Dumbledore has agreed for you to go to Diagon Alley with Weasley and Granger tomorrow."  
  
"Yes, well done Potter" said professor Flitwick.  
  
"Thanks professor" Harry replied. Beaming, he continued to munch his cornflakes, choosing to open the rest of his mail a bit later, when he couldn't be given an infinite number of detentions. When the other teachers had turned away, professor McGonagall turned to him and said quietly  
  
"I might mention to you that the members of the DA gained particularly good grades in Defence Against the Dark Arts." Harry looked at her, and he was sure he saw a small smile playing at her lips.  
  
*********************  
  
Back up in the common room, Harry was just glancing over one of his letters, when he suddenly caught sight of his watch. 9.57! He was due in Dumbledore's office in three minutes! He chucked his things together, reasoning that it was safe to leave them out as there was no one in Gryffindor house in school except him. He hurried down several flights of stairs and along numerous corridors until he found himself out side the statue of the gryphon outside the headmaster's study. He wracked his brains for the password, panting "toffee... toffee apple... no... toffee melon!"  
  
The statue sprang to life and Harry climbed the stairs, realising he had a stitch. Still gasping for breath, he knocked on the door and heard the headmaster's voice saying "come in".  
  
Harry felt slightly apprehensive as he opened the large wooden door. Professor Dumbledore was his usual self, sitting at his desk with his various silver instruments strewn out in front of him. One of them, a particularly complicated-looking one, was letting out large puffs of steam.  
  
"Ah, Hello Harry" said the headmaster, vanishing the instruments with a flick of his wand. "Today we will be looking at a few of the more complex defensive spells that you and may not know or have been able to teach your defence group. We may also look at some occlumency. This lesson will last one and a half hours and then you are free to do as you please... I believe Mr Weasley and Miss Granger will be arriving later."  
  
Harry felt so full of questions; he didn't know where to begin. "So, will Ron and Hermione be having lessons too?"  
  
"Well, I think they will be receiving them with Professor McGonagall. I gather that you received your OWL results today. Well done. Now, we must begin. The first spell we will be using is the disabling spell, which will disable your opponents for a few minutes, depending on the power behind it. Many wizards underestimate it, but it can be a very useful little spell you know. The incantation for this spell is Debilito. Now you try."  
  
"Debilito!" Harry said, not quite sure if he was actually meant to be aiming his spell at the old wizard. As a result, Dumbledore froze for about 2 seconds and then returned to normal.  
  
"Good try Harry, but try to mean it this time." With a shudder, Harry remembered what Belatrix Lestrange had said in the summer about using the unforgivable curses: you've got to mean it Potter. Righteous anger won't hurt me for very long. Anger coursed through Harry's body at the thought of her. "Harry?" came Professor Dumbledore's voice.  
  
"Yes professor, I'm sorry, you just reminded me of something." Gathering his thought again, he prepared to try the spell again.  
  
"It is ok Harry, Sirius was a good man and we all miss him. His memory isn't just going to go away, but we have to learn to live with it. We can't blame ourselves. Now go ahead, try it again."  
  
"Debilito!" Harry shouted, and he was pleased to see Dumbledore freeze, smiling. 


End file.
